Last week, Israel expanded its assault on Gaza, killing at least 144 people and drastically worsening the humanitarian situation (Al Jazeera). Israel’s airstrikes over the past several days have targeted facilities like the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza – the last major hospital in that part of the city – leaving hundreds of thousands of people without access to medical treatment when casualties are at an all-time high. Israel has targeted other facilities like the European Hospital in Southern Gaza and a refugee camp in Jabaliya in northern Gaza. As Gaza enters the 10th week without foreign aid, thousands of civilians face famine and disease with no ability to access food, medicine, or medical treatment. On May 18th, Israel announced it would allow a “basic amount” of food into Gaza, although humanitarian agencies warn that the hunger crisis has already begun (B.B.C.). As the war in Gaza has escalated into one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history, the world’s most powerful actors must demand an end to the slaughtering of Palestinian civilians. 

For months, United Nations humanitarian agencies have warned about the unrelenting violence and critical supply shortages that Palestinian civilians face daily. U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher told U.N. News that his agency is ready to deliver enough food and other supplies to all of Gaza, saying, “We have the people. We the have distribution networks. We have the trust of the communities on the ground. And we have the aid itself – 160,000 pallets of it – ready to move.” Palestinians are facing supply shortages simply because Israel refuses to allow aid into Gaza. U.N. human rights Chief Volker Türk told U.N. News that after months of unrelentingly bombarding civilians, Israel’s military approach is “tantamount to ethnic cleansing.” As civilian casualties soar after a year and a half of conflict, world leaders must listen to U.N. agencies and take greater action to end the conflict. 

While Israel’s claim that it will permit food into Gaza for the first time in months is a critical step in the right direction, the World Health Organization states that the amount of supplies estimated to be let in is inadequate to meet the needs of two million people already facing a hunger crisis. Countries like the United States and France have put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow aid into Gaza, which must continue to eliminate the suffering of Palestinian civilians. Pressure from world leaders was a major factor in convincing Netanyahu to allow the minimum amount of food into Gaza, but global players must take a greater stand against Israel to end the use of weapons of war on Palestinian civilians. As this week’s violence has again peaked global awareness about the severity of the catastrophe in Gaza, those with influence must work together with U.N. agencies to bring an end to the conflict. 

Israel’s upswing in violence this past week is a devastating development in the conflict that began on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas killed 1,200 civilians and took 251 hostages. Since then, Israel has launched a brutal military assault on Gaza, killing at least 53,000 civilians according to Gaza’s health ministry (Politico). Tens of thousands more are expected to die as Israel decimates the healthcare system and denies the entry of critical food and medicine in Gaza. A temporary ceasefire was in place between January 19 and March 18, but Israel has since ramped up its use of violence. Although Netanyahu’s administration and Hamas are again engaged in ceasefire talks, Israel is launching a renewed ground assault and Hamas is still holding 58 Israeli hostages (B.B.C.). 

Now more than ever, people around the world are outraged as the most powerful nations fail to do anything to stop the war in Gaza. U.N. agencies that have historically been trusted with managing humanitarian crises are sounding the alarms for a situation that could take generations to solve as famine, disease, and nonstop violence bring inconceivable trauma to all of Gaza. As Israel shows no intention to end the genocide happening in Gaza anytime soon, the global community bears a responsibility to restore basic human rights for the people of Palestine.